Brown, Dauksas in elite company

BLOOMINGTON - Illinois' Dee Brown and Illinois Wesleyan's Adam
Dauksas squared off in an exhibition game back in November at the
Assembly Hall in Champaign.

They're battling again, although this time it's not a one-on-one
deal.

The senior standouts are among the 16 finalists announced
Thursday for the Bob Cousy Award, which is presented to the
nation's top collegiate point guard. The winner will be named April
3 at the Final Four in Indianapolis.

More than 50 candidates were considered from Division I, II and
III schools. Two other Big Ten Conference point guards - Jeff
Horner of Iowa and Daniel Horton of Michigan - joined Brown as
finalists from Division I schools.

Kyle Witucky of The College of Wooster is the other Division III
nominee. Division II is represented by Mark Borders of Tampa and
Sheldon Pace of Southwest Baptist.

Dauksas, the CCIW Most Outstanding Player as a junior, is
averaging 14.2 points and 6.6 assists for the eighth-ranked Titans
this season.

"It's pretty sweet," said Dauksas of being a Cousy Award
finalist. "It definitely means a lot to be mentioned along with
those guys. To represent Illinois Wesleyan and all of Division III
is quite an honor."

Brown took over as the Illini's full-time point guard this
season when Deron Williams (a Cousy Award finalist last year) left
early for the NBA. The 6-foot Brown, a consensus first-team
All-American and Big Ten Conference Player of the Year last season,
went through an adjustment period early in this season before
asserting himself at the point.

After starting the season with an assist/turnover ratio of 0.96
in the first six games, Brown has turned those numbers around. His
ratio in the past 16 games is 2.82 (107 assists, 38 turnovers).

"He's getting much better at getting in the paint and making
people make decisions and getting to the bucket," said Illinois
coach Bruce Weber on Thursday. "He's made a lot of strides. I
talked to an NBA guy this morning and he was at the game (against
Wisconsin Tuesday).

"The guy kind of backed up what I was thinking. He said, 'Man,
he's so much better at angles, penetration and creating for other
people.' "

Brown leads the sixth-ranked Illini with 15.1 points and 5.9
assists per game. He ranks in the top five in the Big Ten in four
categories - second in assists, fourth in 3-pointers made per game
(2.45), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.10) and fifth in steals
(1.65).

Fans can vote for their favorite candidates on-line at
www.cousyaward. They can also register to win an opportunity to
select the Cousy Award recipient on a committee that includes Hall
of Famers Bob Cousy, Jim Calhoun and Dean Smith.

Cousy is a former Boston Celtics great known for his flashy
passing who helped the team to six NBA championships. Cousy led the
NBA in assists for eight straight years and played in 13 straight
NBA All-Star games before retiring in 1963. He also was a freshman
on the 1947 Holy Cross team that won the NBA championship.

Raymond Felton of North Carolina was last year's winner, while
Jameer Nelson of St. Joseph's won the Cousy Award in 2005.

Randy Reinhardt contributed to this story.

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